Alternative Humanity - The Lost Sol: Redux
by The Glorious Reader
Summary: What would life entail with the disappearance of the sun? How would humans survive in a world without the very thing that sustains life as we know it? How would this upbringing effect the mass effect universe as a whole when humans enter the galactic fold? Heavily based off of Orez Lanrete's original story, which he has allowed me to work on and continue.
1. Chapter 1: Introduction

**Hello Everyone, this is reader. Today I bring to you a crossover between the Mass Effect Series, Lost Planet and The Core. This story is based off the story "Alternate Humanity: The Lost Sol" by Orez Lanrete, which I recommend you go read the original story, along with other alt. history humanity they wrote. The idea of this story is a "what if" scenario where the sun disappears and how humans survive in this disaster. I have taken a large portion of the original story and put it into this, while also adding in my own style and ideas that I thought would improve the story. Well that's all I got say.**

 **ENJOY!**

 ***Public Service Announcement*: There is a poll on my profile in regards to this and my other stories, please check it out if you have the time. Thank you.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN MASS EFFECT AND OR LOST PLANET, THEY BELONG T** **O THERE RESPECTIVE OWNER. ALSO,** **I HAVE THE FULL APPROVAL OF OREZ LANRETE TO RE-WRITE THIS FIC!**

 **Chapter 1: When The Darkness Consumes**

* * *

 **February** **20, 2040** began with a normal morning, the faithful day when the world turn upside down, when all logic was thrown out out the window like it never existed in the first place. The sun shone brightly, showing no sign of what was about to happen. Then, in a blink of an eye, there was only darkness. The United Nations held an emergency meeting to discuss what had occurred, but any attempt to even understand what happened raised many more questions than answers. To simply put it, the sun just disappeared, without any trace of how and or why it simply vanished. This day would start what would be known as age of strife or what many would call it, " _The Everlasting Winter Era"._

Astronomer's and scientists alike began to predict the events that would occur in a future without the invaluable support of the sun. Within 5 years, the earth will begin to rapidly cool and the worlds oceans will freeze over. Without sunlight, Photosynthesis and all above-ground agriculture would cease immediately. Meteorologist predicted earth will have a supply of oxygen to support life on earth for another 1000 to 2000 years without any type of intervention.

By what some would call would be a miracle, the orange planet was close enough to earth so they could rotate around each-other, allowing earth and Mars and the asteroid belt that separated the two to remain in place. Unfortunately, other planets were not so lucky ans it was predicted that they would drift into space, and or slowly be torn apart, such as Jupiter and Saturn, without any sort of gravitational hold over them though the separation process would take a long time. All forms of know animals and plant species were collected from various pre-existing depositories or in the wild in order to preserve them for the future.

The worlds governments put away all forms of grudges, and declared to fully support each other knowing that not just a nation was at risk, but the humanity as a whole. When word was released that sun was most likely forever gone, it was the day the entire world stood still. Anarchy rampaged throughout the streets of the major cities, widespread panic set in among the populace. Countless people were killed during the initial stages of the crisis, mainly due to suicide or those unable to fend off the cold. Work began immediately to build underground shelters around the world, that would eventually be expanded to underground cities. Factories were re-modeled to produce warm clothing, and materials to build underground bunkers and cities that would be humanities new home during this era.

A great deal of technologies were researched and developed at a record pace in order to prepare humanity for the trial they faced. The world powers of the United States, China, Germany and Japan, and many others co-developed the various ingenious devices and tools. Huge mining lasers and drills were built to dig out great deals of earth to build great underground cities in just they had little time they had left do so. New luminescent lighting was created to brighten the greatly darkened city and to preserve the worlds remaining electricity, huge mech suits were built to move heavy equipment or to remove dirt and stone. Massive geothermal plants were built on thermal vents in the oceans while also being built near the earths core, which also were also used to provide warmth and heat to those inside the newly built underground bunkers.

Various types of thermal suits known as 'x-3' and x-4' series of suits were given to those who worked and still lived on the surface as the populations of earths cities and rural areas made the transition underground. A total of 8 massive cities and a multitude of smaller types of bunkers were built either underground or were built on the deep ocean floors to protect against the cold. The four underground cities known as Underworld, Sub-Tera, Sub-New York, and Sub-Asia were built on each of the main populated continents, while the cities of Rapture, Atlantis and Poseidon were built in the ocean bottom. These cities, along with the countless amounts of smaller bunkers were able to save most of the population, but not everyone was able to make it due to a persons old age, sickness and or the rapidly growing extreme coldness.

Within the first ten years of the _beginning_ of the so called apocalypse humanity had managed to survive the initial ordeal of the loss of the sun. The world governments merged into one super government called the United Nation of Earth, taking the form of a democracy with a president elected from one of the great cities every 10 years. A governor was instated in each city, heading a council that would manage the cities needs with what resources they could spare. The humans were quick to adapt to life underground, building and expanding the cities at an accelerated rate. The global temperature reached almost absolute zero, the worlds oceans completely freezing while closing off the surface to the underwater cities. Only at the deepest levels of the ocean remained any sources of non-frozen water, even then it was extremely cold and just touching it would instantly give frostbite to the unfortunate person that did so.

This would begin humanities first step into a bleak and unforeseeable future...

The year **EW** **0048** would mark the first time humanity had returned to the surface since the start of the cataclysm. Explorers armed with the most advanced and powerful environmental suits set out into the -273 degree of earths surface weather, navigating through pre-existing drill holes made during the construction of the underground cities. What would surprise the group would be the strange animals that had evolved at a rapid pace to survive the eternal cold and night. The remarkable features of these animals was the creature natural bio-luminescence that it gave off in the form of a bright orange glow. The animals seemed to take no mind to their presence, only when they got too close they either ran or became hostile. The group was able to tranquilize one of the animals and brought it back for study. The scientists named the animal Akrids.

Akrids were a species of reptilian insectoids that populated earth surface, scientists believing that they were what remained of older species that had to adapt to earths new environment, but it had been also speculated that it could have also been mixed with extraterrestrial bacteria. What proved to be most intriguing was the creatures ability to survive on earths otherwise inhabitable surface through its use of a natural power source, named thermal energy and was the reason they glowed in the dark. The thick liquid like material was naturally produced by the Acrids, which allowed them to survive earths inhospitable cold through the energies heat. The substance had also been proven to be a powerful way to produce electricity when purified, with no known harmful side effects towards humans. This element had also lead to the Akrids regenerating a ridiculous rate, with most standard issue weapons being ineffective against them. To counter the possible threat of the attack by these animals, they created a diverse range of weapons. One of these weapons was known as the Harmonizer.

It was a technology that was able to purify the thermal energy, usually abbreviated as TM. This device allowed the user increased vitality, speed and regeneration, though not on the full scale of an Akrid. This technology allowed for humans to fight against the Akrids on a leveled playing field, being able to power energy based weapons through TM gained fighting the beasts. With the power of TM power, the technological marvel of vital suits were created to specialize in fighting Akrids. These machines were two to three times taller than a average human, and could be armed with various types of weapons that could be tailored to the user fighting style. A new military unit named the Hunter division was set up to fight the Acrids, while also being tasked to lead expeditions of scientists and engineers to the surface.

In **EW** **0048** the first outpost is created on earths surface in the ruins of the old world city of London, the station being dubbed 'New London'. The first TM power plant was built in the city of Poseidon, the experimental power plant becoming a resounding success and future plants are scheduled to be built in all cities. The plans were halted however, due to a lack of actual TM and the Hunters inability to move large amounts of the material from the surface to cities. An attempt to domesticate Akrids ends in failure due to the creatures inherent ability to resist control.

A breakthrough was made in **EW 0056** when Hunters and scientists discovered a type of passive Akrid on the former continent of Europe. The newly discovered form of Akrid were named Akrid cows, as like cows they were easily domesticated by humans and quickly Akrid farms began to be built. With a steady supply of TM being harvested from the Akrid farms, the TM reactors resumed to be built within the projected date.

By **EW** **0085** major city had a functioning TM reactor, with geothermal energy being redirected towards heating purposes. The outpost system had been expanded greatly, with the construction of 'New Beijing', 'Old New York', 'New Tokyo' and 'New Moscow'. These outposts were much smaller than New London, but served as a way for teams to navigate around the planet more efficiently.

The worlds scientific community would be shocked again in **EW** **0096** when a baby girl named Mira Angelos was born with a extremely unusual mutation in the form of a new organ. This organ acted was able to produce thermal energy as if she was an Alkrid, but at a much slower rate. With permission from the parents, the babies new organ and system was studied with great care and a shocking new discovery was made. Thermal energy was found to have produced an invisible sort of radiation that could not be detected through normal technology, and through the exposure to the child from this foreign radiation through the use of the TM reactor had this organ grown. Scientists predicted that this mutation would become more common among children within a few years, and the organ was named the thermal core.

Again another showing discovery came in **EW 0110** when the young Mira came into contact with a captured hostile Akrid. Instead of attacking the girl, it simply stood and stared at the girl as if it was observing her. The creature even allowed the girl to pet its head as if it was a common house dog. When scientists questioned her about the incident, she merely told them that she felt a faint bind between herself and the Akrid, and what she concluded from that feeling was that the reptilian animal would not attack her. After much research, a study concluded that living beings born with a thermal core formed a connection with each other, and was his the Acrids would primarily share ideas and thoughts between each other. But because of them separate species, they were not able to able to form a powerful connection. Nearly 300 babies were born with a thermal core, and the term Thermal Human was given to these individuals.

Nearly 25 percent of all humans were born with a T-core by **EW 0145** , it was found that as these children grew old they had much improved endurance, vitality and combat prowess than that of a normal human. The outposts on the surface of the earth slowly changed into small cities, with large and powerful plasma shield being used to separate the outside weather form the inside, allowing for the control of weather within these new cities. Many other cities were also built, but a majority of humans still lived in the underground cities. A new type of hybrid Akrid was created through breeding, and was able to produce oxygen through photosynthesis.

Only in **EW 0171** did humans return to the great void of space, with the first rocket ship _Explorer_ filled with engineers reaching the former international space station. The relic had been put into a hibernation by the former crew before they had returned to earth. The crew went around then station and restarted the ancient electronic system, restarting the basic functions before the entire station had returned to working condition within a week. Over a course of 7 months the station had went under great reconstruction, introducing the modern technology within the stations outdated electronics. This day had been marked by the President Nathan Jones as the end of the Everlasting Winter era, and so the world went back to using the Gregorian calendar.

 **2224** would mark the time humanity launched its first colonization of a celestial body outside of earth. Humanity built two massive space stations, known as Artemis and Selene stations within the moon. These stations would mark one of the greatest achievements of humanity since the survival of the great cataclysm. Due to earths relatively close position to mars due to the two planets creating an orbit around each, an ambitious plan to build a massive space bridge and railway between the planets began with initial hardship due to logistical issues. The new solar system was the Twin system, due to only mars and Earth being left of the former Sol system.

Mars had been partially colonized by **2245,** the creation of _New Hope_ marking the next step in humanities ambitious goals for space. A mining company discovered a large set of alien ruins in the northern sections of Mars. Unfortunately, the data contained within the ruins was mostly corrupted, with the data only showing that the station was built by a species known as the Protheans, and that they had studied early humans nearly 50,000 years ago.

 **2290** , a massive 15 kilometer object was found on the edge of the Twin system, and is found to most likely be a creation of the mysterious Protheans. The object is theorized to be a form a type of FLT, but was unable to be activated for unknown reasons. The creation of the metal known as Brazium increased ship strength by a inestimable amount, allowing ships to travel into more hazardous areas of space without worry of being destroyed.

 **2320** , one of the greatest scientific discoveries was made with the invention of the wormhole drive under the esteemed scientist Derner von Heissengor. The drive basically ripped wormholes from the ships present location towards that of its intended target. These wormhole drives were installed on a select few ships and were sent into the greater galaxy to test the drive. The test was a resounding success, and all ships and future ship designs were outfitted with these engines. Ships were able to be built to eye awing ship sizes, with some military ships reaching up to 15 kilometers long and armed with the deadliest weapons mankind had ever built.

 **2415** , an initiative known as _Project Dawn_ was secretly initiated by The United Nations of Earth. This project required immense resources, and a particular one that could only be acquired under specific means of production. The wormhole generator was created and used to teleport large objects up to the size of planets from their home location to a secret military research post in the system known as F23-46732. The particular resource needed for _Project Dawn_ is unknown to most people who knew of the project, and is further speculated on what _Project Dawn_ is intended for. Any information on this topic is extremely classified, and anyone who speaks of its existence would be placed under court martial under the guise of treason.

* * *

 **100 Years Later**

Silence. Silence exist constantly in space. Within these silent parts of the Galaxy sits enormous structures known as Mass Relays. These structures were shaped like a tuning fork and had sets of revolving gyroscopic rings spanning 5 kilometers in the center. These same rings contained a massive glowing blue core of what is known as Element Zero. A unique element capable of creating a special energy field that can change the mass of objects within.

It was through one of these Relays that the silence was broken. 11 ships instantly appeared through a blue shift of light. Three were 600 meters long while the rest of the 8 were 200-300 meters. The ships vary in design with the majority of them having a bird like design with wings at the sides of the long body. There were two other designs, an oval shaped with 3 long arms to the sides and bottom, and another design of a slimmer aquatic shape.

Within one of the 600 meters ship was a meeting room. This largely decorated room was filled up to 15 people of various species. The majority being a race known as Turians, a bird-like bipedal race, with the second and third being the Asari race, a blue skinned humanoid race, and the Salarian, bipedal amphibious creatures. There were 5 exceptions, one being a Quarian, the other four being Krogans. The Quarians were a race with a almost non existent immune system causing them to always wear an environmental suit. The Krogans were a large reptilian race known for their strength and blood lust.

The group of aliens were quietly chatting to each other as one Turian entered the room. The Turian was dressed in a generals armor, looking across the group before clearing his throat, silencing most of the chatter. Nodding to the fact that he had their full attention the Turian said, "Alright, if you'll all be settled, I may begin to tell you why you all are here. First of all, I am General Sakarus, and this is the current predicament we are in."

Activating his omni-tool, a holographic screen appeared beside him showing a purple planet. "This is, or was, a planet known as S302-P04 **(1)** , about the size of Pavalen," the Turian started, "It was a planet discovered during the early days of the Citadel Council when the Salarians were still opening the Relays, just before the Rachni Wars. As a result of the wars, the planet was forgotten and only recently did the Salarians remembered this planet in their documents."

"About 8 days ago in Galactic Standard time, the Salarian Union sent one of their stealth ships to scan the planet for mining operations. They found two things." The General held up two talons. "One was that the planet was immensely rich with minerals and resources. It was literally filled with Platinum, Iridium, Palladium and most importantly Element Zero." One talon fell down. "However, it was the second thing that prevented the mining operations to begin." Tapping on his omni-tool, the screen switched its view of the planet to an object. It was cylindrical in shape and was not very big, just a meter tall. "40 of these objects were placed all over the planet."

"What are they?" one of the Salarians asked.

"We believe they were beacons," Sakarus replied.

"Beacons? Were they built by the Protheans?" one of the Asari asked.

"No, these were not of Prothean origins," he answered, "We know this because the materials used was completely foreign to us, and most importantly, they were planted merely a few days ago before the Salarian team scanned the planet. Currently we are unsure about who planted these beacons, but we will explain this later"

"So what happened? We wouldn't be here unless something happened." this was from another Turian.

"The Salarian crew decided to report back to the Union about this and left a stealth probe to watch over the planet. This was what the probe recorded a day later." The screen switched again, this time being a video, showing the planet with the time at the corner. Nothing happened for a few minutes before black spheres appeared over the planet's orbit shocking the crowd. The spheres soon faded before revealing something that gave the group even more wide-eyes. From where the spheres previously were, giant ships, much larger than anything any race, except the Protheans, they knew of had built before, hovered over the planet with a menacing look.

"Keelah..." the only Quarian whispered in an amazed tone, "How big were those ships?"

Pausing the video the Turian answered grimly, "Our scientist and experts believe those ships were 10 kilometers long, and there were 14 of those ships all together."

"By the Goddess," an Asari muttered, "How did this race managed to build such large ships without burning their mass Effect Cores?"

"We don't know," General Sakarus replied, "That wasn't what really worried the Council. It was what happened soon after the ships arrived that is the most worrying." With that the screen resumed playing, showing the ships moved to a grid like pattern, forming a hexagonal prism pyramid structure around the planet. A moment later, to the shock of all those present, a massive black sphere similar to the previous ones before emerged from the planet itself, covering it entirely. Purple energy can be seen flowing from the orb, almost like a black sun, before the entire sphere contracted and disappeared along with the planet and the ships. Where there was once a massive planet, nothing remained.

Silence entered the room completely as the General paused the video again. You can't blame them for their reaction. They just saw an entire planet disappeared without a trace. One of the Salarians asked with disbelief, "What was that sphere? We saw the same thing when those ships appeared but what is it exactly?"

"I don't know the specifics behind ti but one of our best experts, Professor Ivin Delus will explain some possible theories that he as created with the information available to us," the Turian said, the said Salarian walked up to the front.

"Thank you General," Ivin said politely as he turned to the group, "From what we have seen so far, our best guess is that those spheres" the screen re-winded back to an image of the black orbs, "are artificially made wormholes."

"Wormholes?" a Turian soldier asked.

"A special tunnel in space-time. I won't bore you with the technical details but it is basically a shortcut allowing instantaneous travel throughout the galaxy." the Salarian stated getting a few mutters between the scientists in the group, "We had theories of such things as an FTL method but we had long put it away in favor of Mass Effect technology. We found the technology light years away from possible use, so we Salarians abandoned that idea centuries ago."

Stepping in the General said, "and it was through this that we believe this race managed to move an entire planet away from its system."

"But why do such a thing?" another Asari questioned. Others in the group also asked similar things. It doesn't make any sense to them. Why move an entire planet? Why not just colonize it and begin mining operations instead?

"Again we do not know," the General answered with a grim face before continuing, "And that's why you are here." With that all attention was once again on him as he moved his holographic omni-tool. The screen shifted once more before settling on a different planet. This one a garden world with green vegetation seen from the orbit.

"Two days ago on galactic standards, an STG scout group discovered the same beacons founded on S302-P04, were discovered to have just recently been planted on the surface of this planet. We believe it is how they mark the planets they will take and as such, our mission is to attempt first contact." The Turian said getting again, wide-eyes as a response. "The Council is not taking any chances with this one. That's why we have a Quarian and the Krogans with us." the attention is now shifted to the five at the corner. "Ship engineer, Vashti'Forchus is one of the most recognized experts in ship design and construction, and the Krogans are in case things get out of control and we needed some heavy hitters." The last statement sent the krogans grinning devilishly while the Quarian shyly waved her hand.

"Our main ambassador is Matriarch Denalia and she will do most of the talking and hopefully will be able to perform a meld. I want everyone to keep weapons facing down if we meet face to face." General Sakarus ordered as he focused his eyes on the group. "I cannot stress how important this is. We are going to meet with a race capable of transporting planets. If they can move planets they can most definitely destroy them as well. We can not be allowed to fail or cause a war to erupt between our races, millions of lives will be in danger if we do. This is something that I would akin to a possible Rachni level of possible destruction of war were to occur. We'll be arriving at the planet S434-P05 within 5 galactic hours. By then I want everyone ready and able for the mission at hand. That is all, you are all dismissed."

* * *

 **Definitions:**

 **Thermal Energy -** An energy source only present on the human home world of Earth. It is found naturally within both Akrids and humans born with a Thermal Core, and is usually found in liquid forms in orange or gold colors, though other forms of rarer types of thermal energy have been found in a multitude of different colors such as blue, purple, green and a few others. Thermal energy has many strange properties such as giving off a form of natural heat, sticking together when multitude blobs are placed near each other and also increasing the abilities of those who are Akrids or Thermal Humans. This energy source is the main drive behind most human technologies, as such it is hard to replicate them due to a ban on its trade to any of the Citadel species.

 **Vital Suits** \- Large mechanical suits that were initially built to fight Acrids, but have been used in warfare against other types of criminals or species. These suits are generally three times taller than a normal human and are generally powered by Thermal energy, though there are some exceptions to this. These suits can be armed with a multitude of weapons including assault rifles, sniper rifles, cannons and such. Usually are stationed on all military human ships, and are very hard to destory with mass effect based weaponry.

 **Harmonizer:** A human innovation created from the observed high speed regeneration that Akrids have naturally. It automatically stores and purifies T-Eng, and through this the energy is used to provide power to tools and weapons. It's most prominent feature is that it gives the user the same high speed regeneration of the Akrids. Humanity hoards all information on the creation of this device to the point of including a self destruct module when the user dies. Most models of the Harmonizer also includes a grappling hook, and other types of tools that can be specified towards the specific wearers needs or jobs.

 **Brazium:** A unique metal synthesized by the humans that is used in the production of Human ships. The method used to create the material is completely restricted only to humans and is forbidden to be traded. Scans on human ships have shown that it is made up of Tungsten and Titanium, but how the fusing of the two metals was done however is completely unknown to the Citadel, and what was known was that the material is capable of becoming stronger the more pressure and heat it receives. In its base form or just after it was forged it is merely 50 times stronger than steel. After a special process, suspected to be exposing the material to the Outer Core of large planets, it becomes even more times tougher instead. Making it one of the strongest known material second only by the material the Relays are made out of. It has been speculated that if a ship with a Brazium hull was sent through a sun, it would come back out even stronger the Relay materials.

 **Well, that's a wrap! Thanks for reading, I just loved this story idea and wanted to make my own version of it while continuing what could make a really interesting you have not, please read the original version written by Orez Lanrete and the other stories he has made, as they are definitely wroth a read. On a side note, I am currently working on a lot of fics atm (Alongside IRL Stuff, curse you life commitments!) and so that is why I am uploading at a much slower pace. But do not be discouraged, all of my stories will be updated and continued will just at some time in the near future. If you have any criticisms, ideas or just want to contact me, just leave a review or send me a PM. Thanks, and Have A Nice Day!**

 **Chapter 2: Homeside**


	2. Chapter 2: Homeside

**Hello Everyone, Reader Here! I know it's been a while, sorry about that! I'll leave the author notes for the bottom, so let's get into the new chapter! Thanks, and enjoy!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN MASS EFFECT OR LOST PLANET**

 **Chapter 2: Homeside**

* * *

 **(Twin System - Earth's Moon, Artemis Station - June 10th, 2515)**

Sitting in his black office chair, the chief scientist of the Artemis Station, Hertz Druer, typed furiously on his computer, the mans faded emerald eyes staring at the information present on the brought up document. Behind him was a large window that showed the darkened planet of Earth, the only visible spots being the domed cities that glowed like shining beacons within the vast void of darkness.

The clean room was barley lit due a side effect of humanities prolonged existence under ground. Although they used artificial lights within the underground cities, the lack of real sunlight had drastic effects on the eyes and the human sensory system in general. Peoples eyes were usually lacking in color, some even lacking any color at all and appeared hazy as well. This also lead to peoples visions to be impaired as well, though in return other things were much greater than before, such as hearing, smelling and taste.

"Project Dawn... Everything is on schedule for our target date. With the recent shipment of materials from the the outer systems, we should be ready to move on to the next phase." said the aging man as his hands came to a full stop.

Project Dawn was one of the most ambitious scientific and architectural projects in recorded human history. Surviving the Everlasting Winter, the construction of the station he was currently on, not even the building of the space bridge between Earth and Mars wouldn't even come close to approaching the grandiose expectations this project was setting for. For this project to occur, however, the needed resources were so great that normal mining operations could never fully supply the monstrous demand that seemed to increase with every day. It was then that the planet cracking began to gather these essential sources.

"Excuse me, sir..." spoke a voice behind the door to the room.

"You may enter." he swiftly replied while turning his head to the door. A short black haired asian man walked into the room and gave Hertz a quick salute. After he reciprocated the gesture, the scientist motioned for him to take a seat opposite of him and he did so.

"So Chi, how did the test with those prototype rifles go?" asked Hertz as he closed the document. Project Dawn was a venture that had to remain a secret only fully known to the highest level, being himself, the president and a few independent contractors.

"The test went on without a hitch. They seemed to do quite well with the soldiers, with none of them reporting any sort of discomfort or mechanical issues. However, the only things they did lack in was the fire rate and ammo capacity, issues that command wants sorted out before the next testing." Chi responded politely. The head scientist sighed aloud as he stood up from the chair and grabbed a bottle of alcohol and poured himself a glass.

"You want some? It's on the house." he said while holding an empty glass with a mischevious grin. Chi gave him a blank look before a smirk of his own found its place on his wrinkled face.

"Who would have thought the 'Greaf Hertz Druer' would be both an alcoholic and a laid back slacker! No offense though. By the way, I will take you up on your offer." he said with a hint sadness. Hertz initially appeared stunned that his old friend had accepted his offfer for a drink, let alone crack a joke, deviating from his usually serious personality. He would know, as they have been friends for nearly twenty years.

"Whats up Chi? You only ever loosen up when something stressin you out. Want to talk about it?" he said while he offered the cold beverage to the wary man. He grabbed the glass and downed the entire drink in a single sip.

"It's... complicated. You hear those news stories about the illegal settlements?" Chi asked while passing the glass back to him for a refill. He nodded slowly as he refilled the glass.

Illegal settlements were a common issues in a world where rebuilding the surface had been a booming industry among entrepreneurs. Establishing settlements on the surface would yield great benefits, such as prestige, government contracts and in the end, the enticing offer of money. Though to build anywhere close to or on the surface required expensive permits and licences that few could afford. This lead to many radicals, bandits and fools to take the greatest risk of trying to illegally build them, to which usually ended in tragedy.

"Well... You see, these Damn religious fanatics... think they are are called the Followers of the Coming Armageddon, stole my plans regarding an advanced generator that would help the recent energy issues with the surface cities. When the military tracked them down to one of their outposts, they found that each of them had been somehow mind controlled." he said solemnly.

"Mind control? Damn, that's some stuff that your average occultist shouldn't have. Did they find out who was behind it?" he asked while he handed over the refilled glass. The Asian man shook his head as he took the brownish drink and placed it on the desk.

"Nope. What's even more disturbing is that they kept muttering this gibberish we couldn't understand before they committed suicide. This just recently happened so I wouldn't be surprised if a report of the incident ends up on your desk soon."

Hertz took a sip of his own drink before he rubbed his stubbly chin, brooding over this information that he was just told. Why would they need the designs of an advanced generator? He could only assume that they were trying to reverse engineer the damn thing into a bomb of some sort. What also concerned him was the fact that whoever was behind this had the power of mind control, a type of power that was not unheard of, though inherently rare among Thermal Humans.

"Well at least we can celebrate the fact that the situation was resolved without any major issues. Though I personally will look into this case as it interests me as to who's behind it all. Mind control? I could only imagine the data I could collect from such an individual." he said almost gleefully. Chi sighed while also sporting a small smile on his face.

"Well I guess you do still have that awe-struck look whenever you have the chance to experiment. Geez, I could've swore you child there for a second, not the leading scientist of this generation." he said playfully. The green eyed man barked out a laugh before the two continued to discuss a variety of topics over their drinking.

* * *

 **(Earth, New London - Lt. David Anderson - 2 P.M)**

Standing in one of the first rebuilt city on the surface of Earth, one of the most promising recruits of the N7 program had to offer, gazed over the sky scrapers of one of the most technologically advanced cities that humanity had ever built. The dome that kept the cities atmosphere in control displayed the time of day as it would have been shown back when the sun still had existed, creating a sense of a reality many wished to see again.

"Or an illusion, if you ask me..." he quietly said as he pulled his rifle over his shoulders. Although it was aesthetically pleasing when compared to staring at standard lights, he felt that it created a sense of falsehood of security within its denizens, that there was nothing wrong in the new world they inhabited. He had been outside the sturdy walls and bright lights of New London. He knew better than most people who have never been to the 'true' surface of Earth. And it wasn't as pretty or glamorous as many people wished it to be.

"Look alive Anderson." spoke the cheeky voice of man nearby. The man was a Carl Johnson, a fellow member of the N7 program who specialized in sharpshooting, as evident with the bulky sniper rifle on his back. They were both outfitted with light infantry armor that was meant for scouting purposes or for mech pilots. The slim suits were painted a camouflage white and traced in grey.

"Aren't we just going to kill some Akrids? Also they are only supposed to be Category M's as well, so they shouldn't pose too much of a threat to our squad when we're traibed to take down Category L's." spoke Anderson arrogantly as the two began walking to the Vital Suit bay.

"You shouldn't be too cocky Anderson. For all we know there is some sorta god-like Akrid just waiting for us to blindly attack it. Take a look at what happened to Charlie squad just three days ago. They blindly charged in and nearly got slaughtered by the Category L's." said Johnson while closing his cloudy brown eyes. The lieutenant merely rolled his eyes before responding to his comrade.

"I thought the only reason they nearly got killed was that their Vital suits malfunctioned in the middle of the fight? Though I do admit, that was pretty stupid of them to do that." he spoke as they reached the door to the launch bay. The door automatically opened and the two stepped inside to suit up.

"Let's just hope that doesn't happen to us then." spoke the Carl over the large suits speaker. His suit was armed with a VS rifle and a high powered laser rifle, both of which were suited for long range engagement. Anderson's was outfitted with rapid fire gatling gun and a pile bunker, a devastating pike-like device used in close quarters combat, with a retractable cannon on the suits shoulder for maximum versatility.

"You boys done arguing? We got a job to do." spoke another voice. Turning to the direction it came from, a purple colored V.S armed with a shotgun and a laser lance approached. Behind her were two grey colored V.S's armed with gatling guns, missile launchers and a flamethrower.

"Yeah Jenn, our mid life crisis is over. Let's get this crap over with." spoke Anderson as he turned towards the pressure chamber and began moving towards it. A loud sigh was let out across the radio as the others began following in suit. When they were fully inside the room, the large metal doors closed and the bidding of escaping air filled the room.

"So Jenn, how was your date last night?" spoke Anderson suddenly. He wanted this to be as least awkward as possible, so he tried asking a question to break the tension filled atmosphere.

"It was pretty fun. Me and Kyle went shopping, saw a move the had dinner at a nice little restaurant by the river. Nothing too exciting, not that mind however." she said pleasantly.

"Haven't you and him been dating for 2 years now? When's he going to pop the question?" asked C.J. The squad could audibly hear the girl flush as she made a few babbling noises before she began to swear at the man for getting on her nerves.

"You should know better than to piss off Jenn, sir. She's gonna kick your ass when we finish the mission, you know?" spoke the voice of Conner from one of the grey V.S's. Inside the other V.S was the silent but ever vigilant Mateo. The five were regarded as one of the most experienced and well trained fighting squads within the U.N.E military, they were also very close with each other as they had been through thick and thin together.

As their bickering began to slow down the pressure equalization finished. The large grey door that separated the insulated world of New London and the harsh untamed out lands of Old London screeched open. Only the few sparingly placed lights illuminated the otherwise entirely black darkness. Arriving the headlights on their V.S suits only gave them a vision of a few feet in front of them, which made them rely on GPS to navigate the old city. Although many had called for New London to be expanded, there never was enough resources to try the usually risky attempt at altering the protective domes. If done improperly though, the lives of hundreds of thousands of people would be at stake.

"Command reported that a multiple C:M Alrids, so let's be weary of anything. Anderson, your up front with Mateo and me while Conner and C.J will cover the rear. Let's move out!" she said as they all confirms over the radio and took their appropriate positions.

"C.J, see anything with that thermal scope of yours?" asked Connor.

"I've got something 5 clicks from our position. Gonna take it down." he said. Taking aim with the rifle, C.J opened fired with the heavy rifle. The round hit the Akrids weak spot, the insect exploding before its heat signature vanished in nearly a second later. Without the protective thermal energy, the extreme cold would instantly freeze anything that was unprotected.

"I'm detecting more Akrids moving in from the north!" yelled C.J aloud. Anderson sighed aloud and began to start up his gatling gun.

 **1 Hour Later**

The five V.S's were covered with the stain of frozen blood, surrounding the was a scene of pure carnage. Dozens of Akrid corpses ranging in categories laid disfigured across the snowy landscape. The fighting had just concluded, as seen with the stema still flowing from the ends of their gun barrels.

"What did I tell you C.J? Easy as can be!" explained the lieutenant as he turned his V.S sideways.

"Were still not even back at the settlements, anything can happen between here and th-" he spoke but was interrupted when a massive tremor shook the ground and their V.S's. After a few minutes the shaking subsided, only to reveal an Akrid the size of a skyscraper climbing out of the broken permafrost. The creature let our a terrifying roar as it fully climbed out of the hole, with all five V.S's currently focusing on the beast as it readied for its assault.

"Told you so." said C.J smugly as he readied his sniper rifle. This particular Akrid was not like the ones they had just fought a few minutes prior. This one was a category G, the most powerful and dangerous of all Akrids, usually having special abilities that, besides their enormous size, discerned them from their normal counterparts. Another thing that made them more dangerous was their higher intelligence that allowed them to coordinate their attacks, use and adapt different strategies and tactics and control lesser Akrids to do their bidding.

"C.J, aim for its head! Conner and Mateo, distract it while me and Anderson gets close with his pile bunker!" yelled Jenn as she readied to move out. The two grey V.S's fired at the creature with their gatling guns while C.J fired his rifle at its head, pulling the creatures attention away from the oncoming duo. Along the way they ran into multiple smaller Akrids that they easily took down, Jenn using her laser blade to slice through them with ease while Anderson used his own machine gun to take out a few.

Reaching the larger Akrid, the girl slashed at its leg with the sword while firing a few shotgun rounds to bring the creature down to use the pile bunker. With its thermal core exposed, Anderson let out a roar as he sent the driver to impale the beasts central core when he felt the arm of his V.S be forcefully stopped. Looking forward he saw what looked liked a fore field had prevented him it. The creature used one of its long tendrils to brush him away, with his V.S crashing into a nearby wall.

"Dammit! The thing has some sorta shield protecting it!" he yelled over the intercom. He fired a shot with his cannon to see if it was still active and saw the round explode as it reached the aqua blue covering. Cursorily, at that exact moment, he noticed that sniper round from C.J managed to hit the Akrid, meanwhile his didn't.

 _"It probably can't keep its shield up entirely around its body, so I guess it picks and chooses to protect itself from attacks that would endanger it the most."_ he thought. Arming the pile driver, he began to move towards the Akrid again with a new strategy.

"I see a weakness in its defense! You all need to keep attacking its vital areas so it cant block my attack! I'm going for its core again, so keep up the pressure!" he yelled into the intercom as his V.S went into full speed. He dodged and sped his way around the smaller Akrids that attempted to slow him down. He ducked directly under the monsters tendril as he readied his driver to attack.

Just as he was about to send it into the creature, he quickly fired a round from his cannon to distract the shield. Seeing it activate the shielding, he plowed the device straight into the Akrids scaly hide, the pike digging through its flesh until it passed through its thermal core. The beast let out a shrill cry as it body twitched for a bit until it collapsed on its own weight, with Anderson just barely making it out of its falling range. The five stared at the corpse of the beast for a while until the squad leader spoke up.

"Well that was... interesting to say the least. Lets head back to base to give the full report to command before they get their panties in a bunch." said Jenn sarcastically. They all agreed as they returned to New London with little interference. As he exited his V.S withing the Suit Bay, Anderson suddenly felt a chill through his entire being. Worryingly his squad mates looked at him with concern.

"You okay dude? Your eyes look like they've seen a ghost." spoke Conner as he placed his arm on Anderson's shoulder.

"I... I... I don't know. Its just that I got this feeling that something really bad has just happened." he said tiredly while shaking his head.

"Probably just your nerves dude. Lets go grab some beers after we get done with this debriefing." said C.J as the lieutenant nodded before following them to the command building, still unable to shake that feeling that something dangerous was in his imminent future.

* * *

 **(U.N.E Presidential Home - The Undercity - President Christopher Freeway - 11 P.M)**

The most powerful man on Earth relaxed against the cushions of an expensive chair as he watched the evening news on his flat screen television. Although he could very well get a report on anything he needed, it never beat watching good old t.v. with a nice dinner and a cold drink. He had never married or had kids, so the spacious house was only occupied by him and a few servants that kept the house in order while also attending to his needs.

The Undercity was the U.N.E's official capital, located within the deepest known reaches of the Earth. It was where the U.N.E's senate building was located, where many of the various departments were found as well as the presidents residence. As such, it was one of the most expansive and busy cities on Earth.

"Nothing's catching my eye. Guess I'll watch some..." he pauses as a phone call drew his attention away from the T.V. Pulling the phone from his pocket, he accepted the call and responded.

"Mr. President, this is General Kreugen. An urgent issue that has come up with a recent expeditionary team that had gone to the outer systems." spoke the worried voice of one of the presidents most trusted military advisers. Although he knew that the 'expeditionary team' was merely a cover story for their real mission, anything involving them was highly urgent for Project Dawn's future. With his attention fully drawn, he turned off the T.V before speaking.

"Breath, General. What happened?" he could hear the man take a deep breath before he began his explanation.

"Sir they... they have made contact with extra-terrestrial lifeforms. They are waiting for your orders exactly right now for your orders," spoke the man with almost a whisper. At that moment, the President almost dropped his phone in complete shock. He knew that this wasn't a joke as his general only ever called him when there was a pressing issue that needed to be addressed.

"I..." he said before steeling himself. This was going to be one _long_ evening.

* * *

 **There we go! I do hope you enjoyed it! I know you've all been waiting long for this, so I wish you can forgive me. For the past while I had little drive to work on this as I had interests in working on other projects, though recently I've felt good enough to get back into continuing this story. As always, thanks for reading and have a good one!**

 **Next Chapter: Contact**


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